The interior of many vehicles, such as the truck or the SUV, typically includes one or more grab handles to provide assistance for a person to enter or exit the vehicle. The grab handle may be fitted to a variety of locations adjacent the door of the vehicle, such as on a pillar trim or on the headliner. Regardless of the location the grab handle is provided to give the person assistance when entering or exiting the vehicle.
While configurations such as length and width of the grab handle vary, the grab handle typically includes a metal core having sufficient strength to sustain the loads that can be applied when a passenger holds the handle when entering or exiting the vehicle. The handle also usually includes a molded body formed over the metal core.
Typically the pillar trim grab handle is mounted on the A pillar or the B pillar of the conventional vehicle. However, the pillar trim grab handle could be mounted in other locations as well, such as by the C pillar of a vehicle such as a four door vehicle or the D pillar of the rear lift gate of an SUV.
The headliner grab handle is typically located adjacent the upper end of the vehicle door opening. One or more headliner grab handles may be fitted to the vehicle and, in some instances, are provided above each door opening.
However, grab handles, particularly the pillar trim grab handles, may not be universally usable by all members of the vehicle-occupying public. Particularly, on vehicles having a higher center of gravity such as a truck, SUV or four-wheel drive vehicle a person having a smaller stature could have trouble accessing the grab handle. Because known grab handles are fixed in their location there is no opportunity for adjustment to make them more accessible to all persons.